by Jessica Beck
“Why was everyone so interested in this property all of a sudden?” I asked. “After all, it was in pretty rough shape.”
“You still don’t get it, do you? It’s not the house that’s so valuable; it’s the land it sits on,” he said, shaking his head. “A new shopping center is going in on the abutting property, and this lot is going to be worth ten times what the house sold for.”
“Why have I not heard about this until now? I can’t imagine my mother not knowing about it,” I said as I noticed that Jake was sizing things up. If we both dove at the same time, there was a chance he could retrieve his weapon and fire before Lionel could get off a clear shot at us. But he needed time to figure the angles and the risks, which meant that I had to stall more, which was okay with me, since I honestly wanted to know the answers to the questions I was asking.
“Contrary to what you might believe, your mother doesn’t know everything,” the killer said with a snort of derision. “This was hush-hush. As a matter of fact, I was surprised that Maxine knew about it. Anyway, she must have been over here and saw me go inside, so she followed me into the house.”
“And you hit her?” I asked.
“What? No, of course not,” he replied, acting offended by the very thought of striking a woman. This was one odd bird we were dealing with. He didn’t mind killing two people, but he didn’t want to be thought of as a woman beater. “She tripped on some construction debris and hit her head. I did my best to help her staunch the flow, but unfortunately, she spotted the bills I had been there to collect, and she figured it out. I should have done something about her then and there, but that was before I realized that I was going to have to do a few rather distasteful things if I was going to get out of this in one piece.”
“Why kill Curtis, though?” I asked. “Did you catch him snooping, too?”
“The fool wouldn’t leave well enough alone and mind his own business,” Lionel said with distaste. “I had no choice.”
“So you killed him and set fire to the house to hide the murder,” Jake said.
“Yes, it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, Maxine figured out what I’d done, and she decided to blackmail me, not only for the counterfeiting but for the murder as well. She demanded half of everything I’d made up to that point, but I needed all of it if I was going to be able to get myself out of the financial pinch I was in. I’d done all of the work, and at that point I’d taken all of the risks, so there was no way I was going to split the proceeds with her. Besides, I knew that if I gave in to her the first time, she’d bleed me until I was dry. I couldn’t let her get away with that, now could I?”
“Where’s her body?” I asked as Jake motioned me downward with his gaze. I knew he was getting ready to act.
“They’ll find her in her car by the lake with a typed suicide note confessing everything, including the arson and murder. To make matters more convincing, there will be paper and counterfeit bills in her trunk. As a matter of fact, I’m surprised they haven’t found her yet.”
“Give them time,” I said. “It was careless of you to drop your good-luck token here,” I said, trying to goad him a little. If he were upset, maybe it would interfere with his aim. At least that was my hope. “Either that, or you were just stupid.”
I glanced at Jake and saw him smile briefly. At least I had his approval.
It worked as planned. Lionel’s face grew red. “That witch stole it from me without me noticing and planted it here! It was her way of ensuring that I didn’t double-cross her.”
“And she just told you that of her own free will?” I asked. Jake had left all the questioning to me, and I had a hunch I knew why. Lionel was focusing solely on me, which was what my husband wanted. It might buy him a split second more time, which, knowing my husband, might be all that he needed.
“I had to use a little persuasion on her,” he admitted, looking a bit disgusted by the memory of what he must have had to do to garner a confession out of her. “I didn’t enjoy it, but it had to be done.” He looked around the clearing to be sure we weren’t being watched, which was the opportunity Jake had clearly been waiting for.
“Down!” he shouted at me, and I threw the coin at Lionel before hitting the dirt as hard and as fast as I could.
Lionel spun around as Jake dove for his weapon, but he was a split second too late.
In what felt like slow motion to me, Jake grabbed his handgun from the ground and seemed to fire the second his fingers wrapped around the handle.
Lionel Henderson III looked puzzled as the bullet hit him squarely in the chest and he was shoved backwards by the blow.
He hadn’t even had time to get off a single shot, and it appeared that he was dead before his body even hit the ground.
Chapter 23
JAKE RUSHED OVER TO me before he even checked the body, whether he was too worried about me or because he was so sure of his shot I couldn’t say. “Suzanne, are you okay?”
As he helped me stand, I said, “Thanks to you, I didn’t get a scratch on me. That was some shooting.”
“It was all automatic,” Jake said as we walked over to Lionel’s body together. Just for good measure, Jake knelt down and pulled the gun out of the dead man’s fingers, but it was clear that Lionel Henderson III hadn’t stood a chance.
“Are you all right?” I asked him. I couldn’t imagine it was ever easy killing someone, even if it was in self-defense, and I remembered when I had had to do it once. I had been shaken for a very long time from the experience, and I still had nightmares about it occasionally.
“I’m fine,” he said, though there was a hard edge to his voice as he spoke. “When it came down to it, it was either him or us, and I’ll choose us, ten out of ten.”
“Thank you for saving me,” I said as I stroked his arm lightly.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he replied.
“I kind of doubt that.”
“Suzanne, he was so involved in answering your questions I knew that all I had to do was wait for him to be distracted and act. You were perfect.”
In the distance, we heard police sirens. Someone must have heard the shot and reported it. The truth was that I was still so shaken by what had just happened that I had completely forgotten to call the police.
“Right back at you,” I said as we waited for the authorities to arrive.
Chapter 24
TWO WEEKS LATER, JAKE and I were enjoying a quiet evening at home. Momma had just called with news, and I couldn’t wait to share it with my husband. “We are going to make an unbelievable profit on the flip house after all. Momma just sold the land to the developer, and she got a pretty penny for it.”
“That’s nice,” Jake said absently.
“Aren’t you pleased? After all, it was because of your push that we bought the place.”
“Suzanne, I wanted a project, not an instant profit. It was the work I was interested in, not how much we could earn from it,” he explained.
I curled up on the couch beside him. “I know that, but this all could have turned out a great deal worse than it did. I thought you’d be pleased. We managed to do quite a lot in a short span of time.”
“And three people are dead because of it,” Jake said a bit morosely.
“None of that was our fault, and you know it,” I scolded him. “Lionel was the catalyst to everything bad that happened, and if we hadn’t stopped him, he would have literally gotten away with murder.”
“I know all of that, but it still leaves me a little dead inside,” Jake said. “Suzanne, what am I going to do with the rest of my life?”
I thought about responding that he could just keep on loving me, but I knew that wasn’t the real question he was asking me. “I honestly wish I knew,” I said.
“So do I,” Jake answered, and then he put his arm around me. “Anyway, we don’t have to figure it out tonight, or even this week, but sometime, and I mean sometime soon, I’ve got to come up with a plan.”
“You will,” I said. “I have faith in you.”
“Don’t think for one second that I’m not thankful for that fact every single day of my life,” Jake replied. It was clear he wanted to shake the somber mood he was in. “Do you feel like pie? There’s still enough in the fridge to split from the apple crumb your mother brought over this afternoon.”
“Well, we’ll just have to remedy that, won’t we?” I asked him as I started to get up.
“Stay right there. I’ll serve you,” Jake said with a smile as he got up and went into the kitchen.
As I waited for him to return, I thought about everything we’d been through lately. This entire adventure had begun because my husband had needed a purpose in life, which I completely understood, and I was going to do everything in my power to help him find it. In the meantime, Phillip’s MRI was scheduled for the next day, so we’d have a better idea of what we were dealing with as far as his health issues were concerned. If we were lucky, the scan would show the cancer was still just in his prostate, something that could be remedied with surgery. If it were more widespread, we’d find a way to deal with that, too.
After all, we were family, and in the end, that was really all any of us ever had, whether we were related by blood, by marriage, or simply by love.
Baked Chocolaty Donuts
I love chocolate, as anyone who knows me can testify. Donuts seem to me to be an excellent delivery device when I need something in particular. I’ve made chocolate donuts using cake mixes and even doctored brownie mixes, and while they’ve all been good, this one is a real winner. Give it a try when your sweet tooth is craving something warm and chocolaty.
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄8 teaspoon of salt
1 egg, beaten
1⁄2 cup whole chocolate milk
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
While you are waiting for your oven to reach temperature, take a medium-sized bowl and combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt and sift together.
In another, somewhat larger bowl, beat the egg and then add the chocolate milk, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Slowly add the wet mix to the dry mix, stirring until it’s incorporated, but being careful not to overmix.
Add the batter to cupcake pans or donut molds and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Once the donuts are done, remove them to a cooling rack.
These donuts can be topped with chocolate icing, a simple chocolate glaze, or chocolate sprinkles or eaten plain.
Makes 6 to 9 donuts, depending on your pan size.
A Classic Fried Donut
This is my go-to recipe when I’m craving a simple donut that’s easy to make and still satisfies my hungry horde. It can be tweaked in a variety of ways, but when all else fails you, this one shouldn’t let you down.
Ingredients
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 dashes of salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 cups milk
Enough canola or peanut oil for frying your donuts
Directions
Heat your oil to 375°F. While you’re waiting for it to come up to temperature, in a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
In a larger bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sugar, sour cream, and milk, stirring until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until you get everything incorporated. More milk or flour can be used to achieve the texture you’re looking for.
Knead the dough lightly, then roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. Using your donut cutter, cut the donut shapes, reserving the holes for a later frying.
Add four donuts to the oil at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pot.
Cook for 2 minutes on each side, flipping halfway.
Remove to a wire rack to drain under paper towels, and then dust with powdered sugar or make a simple glaze with confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until you reach the desired consistency.
Makes 6 to 8 donuts and corresponding holes, depending on your cutter size.
Pineapple Upside-Down Donuts
Since Momma makes a pineapple upside-down cake in the book, I thought I’d add one of my variations as well. While it’s not truly a cake, with the pineapple pieces and the maraschino cherries, it’s the next best thing!
Ingredients
1 can crushed pineapple (8.5 oz.)
12 maraschino cherries, cut in quarters
1 egg, beaten
2 1⁄2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt
1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions
Heat enough canola oil to 375°F to fry your donuts.
While you’re waiting for it to come to temperature, empty the entire can of crushed pineapple, juice and all, into a large bowl. Next, add the diced maraschino cherries, beaten egg, and sugar, and stir until blended.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
Then gently add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring enough to mix nicely until the batter is smooth.
When the oil comes up to temperature, drop a tablespoon of batter into the hot oil and repeat the process, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. This step can be dangerous, so be careful!
After 2 minutes, check for doneness and then flip the donut drops, frying for another minute on the other side.
Drain on a wire rack with paper towels under it to catch the excess oil, dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy!
Makes approximately 8 to 12 small donuts.
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Other Books by Jessica Beck
The Donut Mysteries
Glazed Murder
Fatally Frosted
Sinister Sprinkles
Evil Éclairs
Tragic Toppings
Killer Crullers
Drop Dead Chocolate
Powdered Peril
Illegally Iced
Deadly Donuts
Assault and Batter
Sweet Suspects
Deep Fried Homicide
Custard Crime
Lemon Larceny
Bad Bites
Old Fashioned Crooks
Dangerous Dough
Troubled Treats
Sugar Coated Sins
Criminal Crumbs
Vanilla Vices
Raspberry Revenge
Fugitive Filling
Devil’s Food Defense
Pumpkin Pleas
Floured Felonies
Mixed Malice
Tasty Trials
Baked Books
Cranberry Crimes
Boston Cream Bribes
Cherry Filled Charges
Scary Sweets
&
nbsp; Cocoa Crush
Pastry Penalties
Apple Stuffed Alibies
Perjury Proof
Caramel Canvas
Dark Drizzles
Counterfeit Confections
The Classic Diner Mysteries
A Chili Death
A Deadly Beef
A Killer Cake
A Baked Ham
A Bad Egg
A Real Pickle
A Burned Biscuit
The Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries
Ghost Cat: Midnight Paws
Ghost Cat 2: Bid for Midnight
The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries
Cast Iron Will
Cast Iron Conviction
Cast Iron Alibi
Cast Iron Motive
Cast Iron Suspicion